mproctor4
Member
Hopefully I can figure out how to download some pictures! I had saltwater aquariums for many years and got out of it when I moved my small aquarium to get new carpet. The plan was to upgrade to a larger aquarium. Well, many years later.....finally the 120. It was purchased rather on impulse, I knew we wanted another tank, we were just planning on a few months down the road. So budget is definately a factor. But we have nothing but time. We found it on CL, was set up as freshwater.
Attachment 238745
We purchased the tank early Oct. 2009. Because of limited resources and time with the holidays we concentrated on refinishing the stand and getting our equipment ready. We made a wet/dry filter. Which so far we are very happy with!
Attachment 238739
We didn't actually fill it with water until 1/1/2010.It never got really cloudy--I guess it was because I rinsed the agronite for HOURS!!
Attachment 238744
We cycled with dead shrimp and 10 pounds of live rock. The rest of the rock was base rock and dead coral I had saved from my old tank. We were prepared for it to take 60 days since we had so little LR. Amazingly, it cycled in around 20 days! When the cycle was done, we added 4 snails, 6 small hermit crabs, and 2 blue damsels. 10 days later we added a 6 line wrasse. Another 10 days later we added a 2 1/2" Niger Trigger. Right now we are just letting things settle down a bit. OH--we also found 2 hitch hiker crabs! Pretty sure at least one of them is a Gorilla crab. They are little so I am hoping the Trigger will get them!
Attachment 238742
Attachment 238741
Attachment 238743
The priorities are: Watching CL daily for a QT tank, RO/DI filter (I'm already tired of dragging bottles of water around!), probably a protein skimmer, and hopefully this summer we will built a canopy and upgrade the lighting. For now it is a FOWLR. I have never had corals before, so we are researching before we cross that bridge. This is also my first tank from scratch, the others were established tanks that were purchased and moved.
We are still working on our stock list. In addition to the current fish. I definately want 2 tangs (probably a yellow, and a Red Sea Sailfin or powder blue), couple of angels, and a black cap basselet. Hubbie wants a Picasso trigger, kids want a puffer and eel (probably not happening). We are going slow and really thinking about what we want because we want waaaayyyy more than will fit in this tank.
Please give me some feedback on the stock list and rock work. I know we need more rock, we are just adding a piece at a time with each paycheck! I definately want some caves (which we do have) but at the same time to keep some long open areas for the fish to swim. I didn't realize how much I missed having a saltwater tank until we got it back again!
Attachment 238737
Attachment 238745
We purchased the tank early Oct. 2009. Because of limited resources and time with the holidays we concentrated on refinishing the stand and getting our equipment ready. We made a wet/dry filter. Which so far we are very happy with!
Attachment 238739
We didn't actually fill it with water until 1/1/2010.It never got really cloudy--I guess it was because I rinsed the agronite for HOURS!!
Attachment 238744
We cycled with dead shrimp and 10 pounds of live rock. The rest of the rock was base rock and dead coral I had saved from my old tank. We were prepared for it to take 60 days since we had so little LR. Amazingly, it cycled in around 20 days! When the cycle was done, we added 4 snails, 6 small hermit crabs, and 2 blue damsels. 10 days later we added a 6 line wrasse. Another 10 days later we added a 2 1/2" Niger Trigger. Right now we are just letting things settle down a bit. OH--we also found 2 hitch hiker crabs! Pretty sure at least one of them is a Gorilla crab. They are little so I am hoping the Trigger will get them!
Attachment 238742
Attachment 238741
Attachment 238743
The priorities are: Watching CL daily for a QT tank, RO/DI filter (I'm already tired of dragging bottles of water around!), probably a protein skimmer, and hopefully this summer we will built a canopy and upgrade the lighting. For now it is a FOWLR. I have never had corals before, so we are researching before we cross that bridge. This is also my first tank from scratch, the others were established tanks that were purchased and moved.
We are still working on our stock list. In addition to the current fish. I definately want 2 tangs (probably a yellow, and a Red Sea Sailfin or powder blue), couple of angels, and a black cap basselet. Hubbie wants a Picasso trigger, kids want a puffer and eel (probably not happening). We are going slow and really thinking about what we want because we want waaaayyyy more than will fit in this tank.
Please give me some feedback on the stock list and rock work. I know we need more rock, we are just adding a piece at a time with each paycheck! I definately want some caves (which we do have) but at the same time to keep some long open areas for the fish to swim. I didn't realize how much I missed having a saltwater tank until we got it back again!
Attachment 238737
